Earlier this month I asked you what you wanted to hear about. The topics mentioned were “miracles” and “what was my favorite ministry and why?”. I decided that I will write a blog on miracles closer to my arrival in the States, and so the other question stands:
What was my favorite ministry and why?
It sounds like an easy question to answer, right? As I was thinking about it, I realized that it is a little more complicated than I thought. I usually am asked which month or country I liked most and the answer for those are different. There are many factors to each month and so favorite ministry, country, and month are all different answers! Most of my favorites have something to do with relationships as well and so I decided that this will be a 2-part blog. Then I started writing….. I had so much to talk about, that it has now turned into a 4-part blog! The first three will describe my favorite ministry, country and month. The last will profile some special people I have met along the way who have impacted and made this year special.
BOLIVIA- March, Month 3
Bolivia was probably my favorite ministry so far (and most emotionally challenging). The reason being: relationships. I don’t believe that I knew I had such a heart for ministry with teenage boys until Bolivia. We worked with 3 drug rehab centers and I served in the boys home. The boys ranged from 13-18 and all but one had been on the streets addicted to drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, theft, etc… They were all at the home on their own choice and so they also had the choice to leave if they wanted. We witnessed some leave and that was hard to see. Throughout the month we played soccer, volleyball, sanded doors, cleaned the house, made food with them, ate meals, led and sat in on morning devotionals, learned to make bracelets, made music videos, sang and played guitar, ate popcorn and watched movies, and went to church with the boys. At first, they didn’t really know how to react around us or treat us because they were never taught how to treat girls. They also never had girls who were older and loved them like sisters or had good mother figures. We became those. There were so many special memories, but three specifically come to mind.
There was a boy whom I wrote the blog “My Parents Don’t Know What to Do With Me” about. In the blog, I explained that Carlos* was placed into the center by his parents who honestly didn’t know what to do with him. He was too hyperactive. He was never in drugs or on the street but was placed there due to behavioral issues. He was the sweetest and loved to hug and needed physical touch. The boys liked to learn random English words and one day he asked what the English word for “burro” is and we responded by saying “donkey” He immediately said “I aaam donkey” with a sweet little mischievous grin on his face. His nickname quickly became “donkey”. I recently heard that he was sent to the States due to needing heart surgery but haven’t heart anything since.
Another time was when we watched the cartoon movie Planes with them and ate popcorn and drank Coke. The couches were moved and blankets brought out. It was a big event for the boys! I brought over my sleeping bag because it was so cold outside that I wanted to be warm and snuggle up in it. I ended up sitting next to the hardest and most difficult boy there, Miguel. He had a hard life and would barely crack a smile and just thought everything was stupid. But when it came to my sleeping bag, he wanted some of that! We unzipped it and laid it over all three of us on the couch. He loved it! I loved glancing over and seeing this hard-hearted boy snuggle up next to me in the sleeping bag. It was a sweet picture of how we can be so stubborn and stuck in our ways, but God gives us His gift of grace which, if we are willing, softens our hearts.
Bolivia was honestly my experimental month(my hair was in a crazy fohawk, I got a piercing..etc). The boys thought my hair was crazy and liked to call me a man or a chicken, but I didn’t care! It was also so cold in Bolivia and I didn’t have many warm clothes that my style quickly changed to rocking the over-sized ugly sweaters. At the end of the month, the boys said that they loved that I didn’t care about what I looked like or what others thought. That I was just who I am and they respected and learned that from me. God even used my “going through a weird experimental” stage to bring back glory to Himself. I love that about God!
Bolivia was a challenging month with the team, hard with the altitude, weather, and the country was very Spiritually oppressed, but I will always be blessed by the memories of those boys! It was a wonderful month of ministry!
